Allagash to collaborate with New Belgium Brewing, but will we see it in Maine?

New Belgium Brewing Company out of Fort Collins, Colorado, has announced in a press release that they will be celebrating their 25th anniversary by releasing a collaboration “Riff-Pack” with Avery Brewing Company, Firestone Walker, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Rhinegeist Brewery and Maine’s own Allagash Brewing Company.

The Riff-Pack will feature collaboration brews all “riffing” on New Belgium’s flagship beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale. Each brewery in collaboration with brewers from New Belgium will brew Fat Tire Amber Ale and put their own unique spin on it.

I reached out to Allagash and they describe their version as:

“Founder & brewer Rob Tod and brewmaster Jason Perkins collaborated with brewers at New Belgium to develop Belgian-focused twist on the familiar, beloved Fat Tire recipe. Their recipe uses a yeast sourced from the Poperinge region of Belgium for primary fermentation, and then adds some of our Allagash house Brettanomyces before packaging. Expect classic notes of stone fruit, sweet tart and peppercorn, along with tropical fruit and phenolic character from the Brett.”

Allagash Brewing Company’s Founder, Rob Tod has this to say about the collaboration:

“There’s so many great people and great companies in the craft business. For me, collaborations are a chance to experience these different cultures at different craft breweries. The crew at New Belgium and the crew at Allagash have been great friends for years and when we were asked to do this we jumped at the opportunity because we knew it would be another chance to spend time with our friends at New Belgium. We’re so grateful that the entire crew at New Belgium has always been very open with us and willing to share best practices on all kinds of fronts.”

New Belgium Brewing Company is a 100% employee-owned company that has become the nation’s 4th-largest craft brewery with distribution in 41 states, the brewery is located in Fort Collins Colorado with a second brewery just opening in Asheville, NC.

Here’s the downside to this fun news – New Belgium does not currently distribute to Maine, the company’s website does hint that there will be expanding into new territories on the East Coast including “Bean Town and the Green Mountain State” they don’t mention Vacationland. So fans of Allagash and New Belgium should plan on taking a road trip or maybe working out a trade to get a taste of this collaboration.